Innocence
by VampireQueenAkasha
Summary: TFA: Prequel to "Never Was". Even before the war, they shared a few fleeting moments. Red AlertXShockwave


**Innocence**

**Disclaimer:** Because **Lecidre **on Deviantart has been so kind to honor me with her artwork based on my fics, I have been immediately urged to do a prequel to _Never Was_. Just a little something that I could not say no to. (And because my mind was nagging away at the concept to do a prequel to both fics. LOL. A little fleeting moment between the crackpairing most have come to actually enjoy.

_"I have yet to meet a man as fond of high moral conduct as he is of outward appearances."_

-Confucius

_"To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world."_

-Brandi Snyder

**By: VampireQueenAkasha**

_"You think you're enjoying this, but you're not."_

-Shockwave, Last Stand of the Wreckers

_Cybertron_

_Pre-War Era_

Iacon City was filled with celebration that day.

A celebration that was the cause of the scientists making a breaking discovery that would create a more conserving source of fuel for Cybertronian life. Something that would last for a very long time and preserve energy sources on the planet. The celebration banquet took place in the council halls where most Autobots by invitation were welcome.

Red Alert sat with her friends Moonracer and Chromia at a table, drinking and observing the crowds. A little music was playing, performed by Jazz and Blaster as well as Soundwave. Chromia and Moonracer were giving ranks of every bot they spotted.

"Okay, what about Soundwave?" Chromia said, "Out of ten, what would you give him?"

Moonracer waved a hand in the air thoughtfully. "Meh, maybe a seven. Because he might have a wild side beneath that faceplate of his."

Chromia giggled. "Ooh, leaves a lot to the imagination, doesn't it?"

Red Alert sighed and turned to face them in her chair. "You two are positively awful grading mechs like they're some kind of toys on display," she muttered, rubbing her forehead, "Now I should get back to work."

She started to get up, but Moonracer tugged her wrist. "Red Alert, you're always working too hard," she said, in a teasing tone, "Is that sweet leader Rodimus forcing you to work hard in the office when he could be ravaging you in unspeakable acts of desperate passion in the berth?"

Red Alert scowled indignantly. "Moonracer! You shouldn't talk like that. Rodimus and I agreed to go our separate ways, remember?"

Moonracer laughed. "Well it seems everyone is getting committed these days," she pointed out, "Just look at Lugnut. Even _he's_ found the perfect female."

Chromia arched her optic ridges. "A female perfect for Lugnut?" She shuddered in disgust. "Ew. That's a disturbing thought." Then, she smirked and pointed in the crowd. "Ladies, look at that one!" she said, "Grandus. What do you think?"

The great sized white mech was moving his way through groups, apologizing for knocking his great body into them. He toppled a few Autobots in the process, causing the three females to wince at the sight. Red Alert almost looked sympathetic.

"Two." the three said in unison.

Through the crowd, Hot Shot pushed his way through until he reached Red Alert. He looked at her desperately. "Red Alert! I need to use some points for the high-grade dispenser!" he cried, "I'm all out! I can pay you back when I get more!"

Red Alert arched her optic ridges before she sighed and waved her hand in the air. "Tell me this, Hot Shot, tell me this; why is it that every time, you need something, I'm the one you always come running to?"

Hot Shot grinned at her. "Because you're my best friend and could never deny the face?" He finished his sentence by giving her a goofy, wide-optic pleading look. "PLEASE? Can I get some more points from you?"

Red Alert sighed skeptically and reached into her compartment, removing a card. "Fine. But you will pay me in interest for having to endure that look..."

"Deal!" Hot Shot said, snatching the card and taking off with it.

"And don't you buy anything else!" Red Alert called after him.

Moonracer grinned once Hot Shot was out of listening range. "What do you think about Hot Shot?" she asked.

"Moonracer, he's one of my best friends," Red Alert snapped.

"So you must know what kind of score he is."

Red Alert put her drink down and frowned at her. "Okay, my perverse friend," she said, annoyed, "This feels borderline inappropriate."

Chromia patted her shoulder. "Ah, come on. Lighten up!" she teased. She paused and looked over Red Alert's shoulder before grinning and pointing through the crowd of Cybertronians. "What about Shockwave?"

Red Alert looked over her shoulder and spotted the violet mech walking to a table to gather something to consume. She tilted her head as she watched him and ignored the jokes between her two friends that involved something indecent. She didn't know what they said and it didn't really matter.

"Hey, Red Alert?" Chromia hollered, "Did you hear us?"

Red Alert snapped out of her reverie and looked at them curiously. "What?"

Moonracer smirked teasingly. "Oh wow, you were checking him out, weren't you?"

Red Alert blushed slightly. "No, I wasn't..."

"Come on, you KNOW you were!" Chromia laughed.

"Stop it!" Red Alert protested, "You're embarrassing me!"

Moonracer took her hand. "I'm about to hook you two up!" she told her, grinning maliciously, "It's about time you started getting out there in the dating world again." Despite Red Alert's protests, Moonracer dragged her through the floor.

"This isn't proper!" Red Alert protested, as she dragged her, "This is indecent! This-"

Moonracer smirked and pushed her into Shockwave. He grunted and turned to face her. "Sorry, I did not see you there," he said, "I'll be going shortly."

Red Alert shook her head, embarrassed. "No. It wasn't your fault. My idiot friends are just insane."

Shockwave tilted his head, gathering a few Energon cubes. His movements seemed uncomfortable, and very detached, as if he had no interest in the festivities at all and just the Energon before him. "I wouldn't know."

Red Alert gave him an small smile. "I'm sure you have friends," she said.

Moonracer and Chromia watched the exchange from the table, smiling.

Shockwave looked down at Red Alert and gave his head a small shake. "No."

"No?"

"I'd prefer to keep it that way." Shockwave replied quietly. "Excuse me."

Red Alert watched him walk away, waving awkwardly. "Yes, uh, well...nice talking to you, Shockwave." she told him.

Chromia and Moonracer playfully winced at the sight before laughing uproariously and slapping their hands on their thighs. The sight was too funny for words to process at all. "Ooh, rejected!" Chromia said.

O

Later the next evening, Red Alert walked through the corridors of the infirmary, her head hanging from the events that had taken place earlier that day. She had made every attempt to save the life of a wounded construction worker, but her efforts had proved to be of little consequence.

Red Alert wiped her optics with one hand before she looked up, spotting a shape in the corridor halls standing by the wall. "Excuse me," she said, approaching, "Are you a visitor?"

The shape turned and she noticed that it was Shockwave. "Yes," he replied, "I am."

"For who?"

"Rattletrap. The fool attempted to retrieve some items for me and was damaged in the end result," Shockwave told her, "I am waiting for him to get out of surgery."

Red Alert's optics flickered slightly and she gave a small smile. "Oh. I was on my way to check up on him. You can come with me if you'd like."

Shockwave silently followed her and they walked down the corridor to a receptionist's desk. The female behind the desk arched her optic ridges up at Shockwave and did not notice it as Red Alert snapped her fingers at her.

"I need Rattletrap's results," Red Alert told the female.

The receptionist frowned up at Shockwave. "Why's _he_ here?"

"He's a friend of the patient," Red Alert said, with a little annoyance in her voice, "Now are you going to ask questions or give me what I need?"

The receptionist scowled and thrust the data pad into Red Alert's waiting hands. She gave the doctor a skeptical grimace and turned in her chair to stare at her computer monitor once more. Red Alert rolled her optics and gestured for Shockwave to follow her. They walked in silence for a moment; Shockwave glanced down, watching as Red Alert skimmed through the data pad, obviously going over the results of Rattletrap's surgery.

"You needed a visitor as well, it seems," Shockwave finally said.

Red Alert looked up at him. "Excuse me?"

"I know what bots are usually thinking, even if they do not know what I am thinking," Shockwave told her, "I can see that you require some means of communicating your agony."

Red Alert arched her optic ridges before she sighed and stared down at her data pad. "I lost a patient today," she said, quietly, "Quick Silver. He was a construction worker who was committed here after an accident in work."

"I am certain you did everything you could," Shockwave replied.

Red Alert frowned intensely. "No. I could have done more... His spark was in my hands when he died. I watched it diminish and could do nothing."

"At least he was not alone."

"I wanted to make sure he didn't have to die."

"Everyone dies eventually."

"Not on my table."

Shockwave was quiet for a brief moment before continuing. "It's a part of life," he told her, "Bots will eventually die, regardless of whether or not we want them to."

"It's my job to keep that from happening," Red Alert said, with an edge to her voice, "Otherwise, what purpose do I have?"

"We all feel the need to have a purpose," Shockwave answered, "Whether or not we decide on what our purpose is, there will always be things that we cannot control. To emotionally attach yourself to something leaves yourself open to be defeated."

"That's a very grim way of looking at life, Shockwave," Red Alert argued.

"It's the only logical way to look at it."

Red Alert made a small sound of amusement before she stepped into a room. Rattletrap was lying in a berth and sat up straight when he saw Red Alert step in. "Give it to me straight, doc!" he cried, desperately, "How long do I have for this world?"

Red Alert sighed and shook her head. "You're going to be fine, Rattletrap," she told the mech, "Your surgery went great. You just need to take it easy for a few cycles until your new joints and metal heal, but you'll be able to leave in the morning. So no rough activities after that."

Rattletrap gave a raunchy laugh. "Ahh, Botanica's gonna be disappointed then!"

Red Alert made a face. "Charming." she muttered, "Now I'll be back with some high-grade."

Shockwave watched her go before he pulled up a chair and sat at Rattletrap's berth side. "Did you get what I had asked for?" he asked the smaller mech.

Rattletrap laughed. "Of course I did, Shockwave! It's stashed away at your tower. Have I ever steered you wrong before?"

He started to pick up a cup of oil at his bedside and Shockwave smacked it out of his hands. Rattletrap started to protest, but Shockwave spoke first. "This is not a game, Rattletrap," he hissed, his voice dripping with menace now, "Those supplies are absolutely necessary for my experiment and I could never get them any other way. If anyone ever found out about it, your head would be the first on my list."

Rattletrap held up two hands. "Relax! The goods are in a safe spot! No one saw me!" He sighed and let his hand rest at his sides before he flashed a smirk. "You didn't come all the way out here just to give me the speech." He grinned teasingly. "Could it be the doctor?" When Shockwave didn't answer, Rattletrap just laughed. "Yeah, she's kinda easy on the optics. Personally, I like a lady who knows how to please a bot."

"Do not be ridiculous, Rattletrap." Shockwave snapped.

Then, Red Alert entered the room again and placed a cube of high-grade on Rattletrap's end table. "Now, I want you to drink it slowly," she told him, sternly, "If I come in here later and find you tipsy, I'm not picking you up off the floor." She looked at Shockwave and smiled. "Take all the time you need. I'll keep Hook off your back for a while. I'll be in my office filing documents if you need anything else, okay?"

Shockwave nodded. "Thank you."

Red Alert started to go before she gave Rattletrap a warning look. "I mean it."

Rattletrap gave her an innocent grin as she walked out of the room before he looked at Shockwave. "Yeah, she's a piece of aft, that one," he teased, "Hope you go easy on her, Shockwave. I know you're a real lady killer!" He let loose a laugh that was rewarded with his cup tossed at his head.

O

The following day, Red Alert led Rattletrap down the flight of stairs of the infirmary while Shockwave followed her.

"I can walk!" Rattletrap argued, "Hey, Shockwave! Can you lend a bot a hand here?" Shockwave grabbed his wrist tightly in one grip and he yelped in pain, jerking from him. "Ahh! Ahh! Never mind! I got it!"

As he made his way down the stairs, Red Alert laughed gently. "He's quite a character."

"Indeed." Shockwave muttered.

Red Alert stood there in silence for a moment before she looked up at him. "Shockwave?"

"Yes?"

"I just have to clock out, but if you'd like, we could always get something to drink." she offered.

Hot Shot was about to approach Red Alert when he spotted her talking with Shockwave. His optics went up with interest.

"Why would you want to do that?" Shockwave asked, when Red Alert made the offer.

She chuckled. "I just thought it would be nice."

Shockwave turned slightly to go. "I do not take pity charity."

Red Alert looked mortified and shook her head. "It's not pity charity!" she insisted, stopping him before he could go. He turned halfway to look at her. "I just thought that...maybe...you'd go with me because...well..."

He was silent, staring at her with that single, slit optic. "Why?"

Red Alert smiled, somewhat embarrassed. "Maybe because I think you're an interesting bot and I want to get to know you a little more."

"Maybe you shouldn't."

"And _maybe _I don't care if I should or shouldn't."

Hot Shot lightly smirked at the exchange and failed to see Rodimus approaching behind him. The taller mech watched this as well, frowning suspiciously before he disappeared down the street again, not as intrigued about the sight as Hot Shot.

Shockwave looked up toward the city before he nodded his head. "Very well. I was going to Maccadam's Oil House anyway for a business transaction. Perhaps we could meet there tonight if you truly want to."

She smiled and nodded. "Okay."

He gave her a brief nod and walked down the stairs. As soon as he was gone, Hot Shot approached Red Alert with a goofy grin on his face. She caught that and sighed, rolling her optics.

"What is it, Hot Shot?" she said.

"I see you're hitting it off pretty well with Cyclops the Creepy Scientist," Hot Shot teased, "Tell me, why are you so interested in him?"

Red Alert put her hands on her hips and gave him an annoyed look. "He's polite and well-mannered; two things YOU seem to be lacking, Hot Shot."

"Oooh!" Hot Shot mocked, putting his hands on his hips as well.

Red Alert rolled her optics good-naturedly and shook her head. "What are we going to do with you?" she muttered, walking back up the steps.

O

Maccadam's Oil House was alive with cheerful mechs and femmes, sharing high-grade and having a good time. Shockwave was sitting at the counter, seemingly in discussion with another bot that appeared to take the shape of a jagged two-wheeled vehicle. His head was also encased in a container of green liquid. Red Alert had to admit that he looked somewhat unsettling and was relieved when he stood up and walked passed her without so much as a second glance.

Red Alert took a spot beside Shockwave. "Anyone sitting here?" she asked.

"No." he replied.

She received a drink shortly after waiting and the two started talking.

"You certainly are a strange doctor, Red Alert," Shockwave told her, giving her a glance at the side, "Not many females would come up to me simply to talk."

Red Alert smiled slightly. "Well, you couldn't have met very nice ones then."

"No."

They were silent for a little while longer before Red Alert spoke again. "Many bots came to me today for minor injuries," she said, "They were all in good health and came out alive when I was finished with them."

Shockwave nodded, though his mind seemed to drift elsewhere. "It was a good day."

"It was," Red Alert agreed, laughing weakly; it was a coverup that carried a mild sting in it, "Yeah, I didn't kill anybody today."

"You're a good doctor," Shockwave said, his voice considerably softer this time, "And you have proven it more than once on many occasions. You should really trust your own instincts and not trust the words of others."

Red Alert sighed. "It's hard sometimes." She took a sip of her drink. "There are days that I wish things could change. Those rare days when I just can't handle the monotony."

Shockwave looked at her. "If you could change things, would you dare do it?"

Red Alert arched her optic ridges and gave him a skeptical look.

"Would you?" Shockwave asked again.

"If it were THAT easy, yeah," she said, "I probably would."

Shockwave stood up and she did as well. "I should return to my tower," he told her, "I have a pressing engagement I must attend to by morning." He seemed to hesitate before he continued. "I appreciate the talk, but you would be better off not pursuing someone like me." He watched a surprised look cross her face. "Did you really think I didn't know what you were planning, silly female? I'm rather adept at picking up someone's true motives."

Red Alert's face place heated up quickly. "I didn't mean to-"

"Do not apologize," Shockwave said, "Your spark was in the right place, but your logic circuits were not. It would be for the best if you did not pursue me any longer." He gave her a small bow of respect before turning and leaving the Oil House.

Red Alert watched him go with a disappointed sigh before she sat back down in her seat.

Outside, Shockwave started to make his way down the street when Rodimus appeared. "I thought I'd find you down here, Shockwave," he snapped, "I want to make something clear; you keep away from Red Alert."

Shockwave tilted his head with an amused snort. "Are you threatening me, Rodimus?"

"No. I'm promising," Rodimus hissed, jabbing a finger in Shockwave's chest, "I don't trust you. I never have. I don't want to see my friend end up hurt because of you. She's a good friend and doesn't-"

"And what she _ever_ saw in you, I'll never know," Shockwave interrupted, regarding him with contempt.

Rodimus looked shocked by the response before he pursed his lips coldly.

"I know you once shared emotions for her. Perhaps you still do," Shockwave continued, "Know this, Rodimus Prime; despite my lack of interest in pursuing anything with the good doctor, I should mention that nothing you have ever done could ever be of grave importance than what I have achieved. So keep that in mind before you attempt to play the 'my motherboard is brighter than your motherboard' games. You certainly will not win."

Rodimus gritted his teeth when Shockwave brushed passed him and disappeared into a tram car waiting to pick up other Cybertronians. Once on board, Shockwave took a spot in one of the seats alone from the others and watched as the city passed by through his window.

_She's so innocent. But naive. It could be rather interesting to see what that brings for the future. _

THE END


End file.
